An internal investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that focused on domestic violent extremism among its staff found four examples of what agency investigators called "active" participation supporting violent extremist activity since at least 2019.
A report on the probe said the agency has what it called "significant gaps" that hindered the department's abilities and capabilities to "prevent, detect and respond" to incidents of domestic violent extremism, the report stated.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said, “Every day, the more than 250,000 dedicated public servants at DHS work to ensure the safety and security of communities across our country. To ensure we are able to continue executing our critical mission with honor and integrity, we will not tolerate hateful acts or violent extremist activity within our Department.”
“The findings of this internal review highlight key steps that our Department will continue to take with urgency to better prevent, detect, and respond to potential internal threats related to domestic violent extremism, and protect the integrity of our mission,” Mayorkas said.
The DHS' Domestic Violent Extremism Internal Review Working Group initially uncovered 35 allegations of potentially violent extremist activity during the window of October 2018 to July 2021 among DHS ranks, which has more than 250,000 people working for the agency, CBS reported.
On Tuesday the Department of Homeland Security released a report from its Office of Inspector General which found that the agency did not properly notify law enforcement agencies regarding threats related to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The warnings did not come until two days after the deadly riot the probe found, and in other cases, no notification was released at all.
